Raina blasts Chennai into final

Chennai Super Kings became the first team to qualify for the Indian Premier League final as they recorded a dramatic six-wicket victory over Bangalore Royal Challengers in Mumbai on Tuesday.

A sublime knock from Virat Kohli saw Bangalore post a menacing 175 for four after being put in to bat by Chennai, a decision which looked to be the undoing of MS Dhoni's side when they reached the halfway stage of their reply on 62 for two.

But Suresh Raina hit six sixes in an unbeaten knock of 73 from 50 balls, and was helped out by Dhoni and Albie Morkel at the death as Chennai scraped home with just two deliveries to spare.

The Super Kings had slumped to seven for two early on, but Raina rebuilt the innings with Subramaniam Badrinath (34) before Dhoni's 19-ball 29 began to turn the match in their favour.

The ball started to sail over the ropes on a regular basis, and only Chris Gayle (4-0-19-0) was spared as the last eight overs brought a remarkable 106 runs.

Twelve were required off the final over, which was bowled by Bangalore skipper Daniel Vettori, and Morkel (28 not out from 10 balls) managed a boundary wide of long-on before finishing the match with a booming six over midwicket.

It was heartbreaking stuff for Bangalore, for whom Kohli had stroked 70 not out from 44 balls in an innings that included unarguably the finest shot of the tournament - when he showed exquisite balance whilst lofting Morkel over extra cover for six.

That was one of three maximums hit by the Indian batsman, who started off by anchoring the innings following the early dismissal of Gayle before taking the attack to Chennai's bowlers as the overs ticked by.

Mayank Agarwal had given the Royal Challengers a platform by hitting 34 from 33 deliveries, while Luke Pomersbach offered Kohli support in the middle of the innings as he struck an 18-ball 29.

That provided the necessary impetus, and when Pomersbach was out bowled by his countryman Doug Bollinger, Kohli was more than happy to take over the mantle of big hitter.

Gayle had fallen for just eight in the fourth over of the innings when he was trapped lbw by Ravichandran Ashwin, but Kohli proved that Bangalore are more than a one-man team as he put the Challengers in the driving seat at the change of innings.

Nevertheless they let the match slip in the second half of Chennai's innings, and must now face the winner of Mumbai v Kolkata on Friday if they want to advance to Saturday's final in Chennai.


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